All Things To All People

Have you ever tried being ALL things to ALL people and it only left you feeling exhausted and frustrated? Maybe you are a mom to kids who aren’t always respectful? Are you a volunteer with PTA only to find yourself a committee of one? Maybe you take in more responsibility at work hoping for the recognition you longed for but have yet to receive? You wear ALL the hats: wife, mom, CEO of the home, Uber-kid driver, logistics specialist, room mom, full-time career woman, chef, party planner, personal shopper…trying to maintain sanity but instead just losing a piece of yourself each and every day.

I hear you! I used to get SO overwhelmed (and still do at times!). But with a change in perspective, my hope is we come away with adding peace to our soul instead of endless exhaustion. Ready to find out how?

Have you heard the saying stop trying to be all things to all people? Yep, me, too! And it’s something that became a part of my mindset. So you can imagine how confusing it might have been to read 1 Corinthians:

“…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I might share in its blessings.”
~1 Corinthians 9:22

Paul is talking to a group of believers. He wants to communicate to them that while it may be his right to reap rewards for his service in ministry, he has chosen to be self-sufficient so that he may not be boastful before the Lord.

He goes on to tell the church in Corinth how he has intentionally ministered to ALL groups of people: Jews, Gentiles, those under the law, and those outside the law and all while maintaining who he is in Christ.

He became ALL things to ALL people using ALL means he had in order to point different groups of people to Christ.

Is this our calling, too? I just acknowledged that attempting to do so only leaves me tired and feeling inadequate.

You see, I think we have to look at this concept through the lens of God instead of the lens of the world. When we attempt to be ALL things to ALL people through the world’s standards, we will lose a piece of ourselves each and every time. But when we become the hands and feet of Jesus (ALL things…because what can be more then this?) to ALL people (God calls us to share the gospel with the world) by ALL the means then we fill our souls with an inexplicable peace.

Doing it God’s way leaves us MORE filled rather than less. Our hearts overflow with peace, hope, and love when we live each day in service to Him.

So the next time you are chauffeuring kids from place to place, or decorating for the next school event, or maybe even not getting the recognition you deserve at work, ask yourself why you are doing all the things…for the world’s approval or for God’s glory? Work unto the Lord. His kingdom is present in the day-to-day of YOUR life. You can be ALL things to ALL people through the lens of Christ.

Ashley
“This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
~Psalm 118:24